Rail joint



Sept. 27,1927. 1,643,830

, Y W. H. BOWLES RAIL JOINT Filed May 11, 1926 WITNESSES 7 Y W fifflowe ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VTILLIAM IT. BOWLES, OF MEADOTV CREEK, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGINOR OF ONE-THIRD TO'W. H. BOWLES AND SONS, A PARTNERSHIP, ONE-THIRDTOMARSHALL BOWLES, AND ONE-THIRD TO R41 ,NUNLEY, ALL OF MEADOW CREEK WEST VIRGINIA.

RAIL JOINT. 7

Application filedl/Iay 11, 1926 Serial No. 108,337.

My invention relates to improvements in rail joints, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed;

An object of the inventioniis the provision of a simple, reliable and stable rail oint which affords facilities for connecting the meeting end portions of two aligned rails and for holding the connected together meeting end portions of the rails aga nst relat ve movements and particularly against sagging at the joint. c I

A further object of the invention is the provision in a rail joint of a coupling and supporting member which can be secured. quickly and easily to the meeting end portions of two aligned rails in positlon to connect and support the meeting end portions of the rails without the use of the usual fish plates and the usual connecting bolts;

Other objects and advantages of the 1nvention will be apparent fronithe following description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved rail oint,

Figure 2 1s a section substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a section substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

The improvedrail joint comprises a coupling member which is formed by casting or in any other suit-able known manner in a single piece and which comprises a'base portion 1 having a flat bottom face'as indicated at 2. The base 1 has a width consider tends longitudin'allyof the-base intermediate This body is the side edges of the latter. bifurcated longitudinally for itsentirelength of the body thus may be said to constitute retaining side members which have been designated 7 and it is to be observed that the vertical upper portion 5 of the channel in the base is located intermediate the outer side faces of the retaining portions 7 of the body. The channel 56 constitutes a' seat in which the web and base flange portions of the meeting end portions of the rails 3 are adapted to fit, the base flanges of the meeting end portions of said railsfitting snugly in the horizontal portion, 6 of the channel and the web portions of the rails extending in the portion 5 of the channel slightly .above the level of the upper end of the portion 5 of the channel so that the upper edge portions of the side retaining members or furcations of the body will fit snugly at Sunder the rail heads at opposite sides of the web portions of the rails. The inner faces of the furcations 7 of the body may be machined or otherwise formed longitudinally intermediate their upper and lower edges so as to produce longitudinally extending'shallow grooves 9 which are concavely curved in verticalseotion and which are provided to reduce the friction between the inner faces of the furcations 7 of the .body and the web portions of the rails 3 the upper'an'd lower edge portions of thefu'rcations' 7 of the body are in contact with opposite side faces of the web portions of the meeting endportions of the rails.

The furcations 7 of the body may be reduc'ed in thicknes's exter'nally from theirjupper edges for part of the height o'f'thebody as indicated at 10 to afford ample clearance fortheflanges of wheels (not shown) which may'traverseth-e rails; The shoulders which thus'ar'e provided at the lower ends of the formed to slope toward their lower edges and may be concavely curved in vertical sectional configuration as shown at 12 so that moisture which may be deposited on the outer faces of the furcations 7 of the body will drain freely therefrom.

The end portions of the furcations 7 of the body are provided with aligned transverse openings 13 and the web portions of the rails 3 are provided with transverse openings 14 in positions to register with aligned openings 13 when the meeting end portions of the rails are in position to closely approach or abut each other in the channel 6 of the body of the coupling member of the device. Retaining pins 15 extend through aligned openings 131413 and are held against axial displacement in any suitable known manner, as by means of cotter pins 16 which extend through transverse openings in the end portions of the pins 15.

These cotter pins may be received in lateral pockets, as at 16, in the outer faces of the fur-cations 7 of the body of the coupling member. WVhen the pins 15 are in place, the

' railsv 3 will be held against any appreciable longitudinal movement relatively to each other altl'iough the openings 14 preferably are sufficiently larger in diameter than the pins 15 and the rails 3 preferably terminate slightly apart at their adjacent ends to permit longitudinal expansion and contraction of the rails in response to temperature changes will be permitted.

The furcations 7 of the body of the coupling and supporting member of the device are provided on their outer faces interme diate their ends with integral outwardly may be provided ateither of opposite sides and downwardly extending lugs 17 having sloping upper faces. The lower portions of these lugs 17 maybe drilled or partially cut away in a direction parallel to, the rails to provide notches or seats as indicated at 18 and 19 respectively for the reception of the middle portions of the usual rail bond wires 20 and 21, respectively which connect the rails 3. Ordinarily, rail bond wires 20 and 21will be provided only at one sideof the connected together portions of the rails 3. The lugs 17 are provided on both the furcations 7 of the body of the coupling member of the device so that the rail bond wires of the connected together portions of the rails or the coupling member may be reversed end for end withoutthere being any -necessity of changing the location of the -usual rail bond wires. The end portions of the rail bond wires maybe connected with V,

the rails 3 by means of plugs 22 which are secured in transverse openings 23 in the web portions of the rails 3 and which have longitudinally extending grooves in which the tions of the rail bond wires also will be secured to the plugs 22in any'suitable known manner, as by means of solder or by'welding.

The base 1 of the coupling member of the device is provided withnotches 241; in its side edges. The shanks of railspikes 25 are driven through the notches 2a in the portions of the base 1 which overlie the adja cent ties 4 into said ties so that the heads of the rail spikes will clamp the base 1 firmly to the ties 4. i

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. The adjacent end portions of adjacent aligned rails are slid to place in the longitudinal channel 5 6 of thebody of the coupling member and are connected with the body of the coupling member by means of the pins 15. The coupling member is secured firmly to the ties 4 by means of the rail spikes and the adjacent end portions of adjacent rails will be held securely against any appreciable relative movements and against sagging at the joint between the rails. The meeting end portions of the rails are reinforced by the coupling member and cannot move out of line with each other either vertically or in any other direction without breaking the coupling member or the connections between the coupling member and the rails. The strength of the coupling member is sufficient to resist any stresses to which it is likely to be and I therefore consider as my own all such modifications and adaptations thereof as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claim. v

I claim V e In a bond protecting rail joint, a base adapted to extend underneath adjacent end portions of two adjacent aligned rails and adapted to be fastened to ties, a pair of retaining members integral with said base and extending longitudinally on the base against opposite faces of the adjacent end portions of said rails, said retaining members having aligned transverse openings, concave inner faces, shoulders on the upper portions of the outer faces and concave slopes below said shoulders, a plurality of pockets open at their top edges around the transverse openings in "the joint, a raised middle portion of the sloping outer sides, eave pieces extending therefrom, said pieces being channeled on their under sides, pins extending through the transverse openings of the joint and those of the rails, retaining means on the ends of said pins, adapted to hold one or more electrical bond Wires extending from the end of one rail to the end of the other rail by means of channels under the said eave pieces.

WILLIAM H. BOWLES. 

